A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains or may contain material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the photocopy reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure in exactly the form it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.
The present invention relates in general to a gaming device, and more particularly to a gaming device having an award distributor and an award accumulator bonus game.
Gaming device manufacturers strive to make gaming devices that provide as much enjoyment and excitement as possible. Providing a bonus game in which a player has an opportunity to win potentially large awards or credits in addition to the awards associated with the base game of the gaming device is one way to enhance player enjoyment and excitement.
Known gaming devices having bonus games employ a triggering event that occurs during play of the base game operation of the gaming device. The triggering event temporarily stalls or halts the base game play and enables a player to enter a second, different game, which is the bonus game. The player plays the bonus game, likely receives an award, and returns to the base game. In most instances, the bonus game is relatively short in relation to the time that the player spends repeatedly playing the base game. The player may play the bonus game several times while playing the base game of the gaming device.
One known commercially available gaming device is the xe2x80x9cWHEEL OF FORTUNE(trademark)xe2x80x9d gaming device. This gaming device includes a multi-colored bonus award wheel attached to the cabinet of the gaming device. The award wheel is divided into several sections. Each section includes an award that ranges in value from twenty-five to one thousand. In this game, a player plays a base game that includes spinning reels and a central payline. When a wheel symbol is positioned along the central payline on the third reel, the player enters the bonus game.
In the bonus game, the player obtains one opportunity or spin of the award wheel. The player spins the award wheel by pressing a button on the gaming device. Once the award wheel starts spinning, the player waits until it stops. An indicator located at the top of the award wheel points to a section of the wheel. The player receives the award on that section for the bonus game. After the player receives that award, the bonus game ends and the player may resume playing the base game.
Another bonus game is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,089,978. This patent discloses a bonus game which is triggered when a player obtains a winning combination of symbols on a plurality of reels. The bonus game is initiated and includes an award wheel with different bowling awards such as a spare and strike, indicated on the wheel. The gaming device provides the player with ten frames in the bonus game. The player presses a xe2x80x9cRoll the Ballxe2x80x9d button to initiate the spinning of the wheel. Once the wheel stops spinning, the player receives the score indicated on the wheel for a particular frame. The player spins the award wheel to obtain a score for each frame until all of the frames are completed. After the tenth and final frame is completed, the player""s scores from all of the frames are totaled and provided to the player as a bonus award for the bonus game.
There are also many known bonus games that provide the player the opportunities to pick selections from a plurality of selections.
While such bonus games offer advantages in player appeal and excitement, there is a continuing need to develop new types of bonus games that allow players to accumulate larger awards and increase the level of player excitement and enjoyment.
The present invention provides a gaming device and in particular a bonus game of a gaming device that enables players to accumulate awards by activating an award distributor (such as an award wheel) having a plurality of awards or award symbols and at least one selection group activator symbol. The gaming device provides the player with a plurality of activations of the award distributor. An award symbol or a selection game activator symbol is indicated in each activation of the award distributor. When an award symbol is indicated, the processor of the gaming device provides the award indicated to the player. When a selection group activator symbol is indicated, the gaming device displays or highlights a plurality of selections. A selection set or selection award is associated with each selection. Preferably, the selection set or selection awards range from low to high value awards. The game enables a player to select one selection from the selection set and provides the selection award associated with that selection to the player. The number of available selections in the set thereby decreases by one after the player picks the selection. The game then returns to the award distributor. If the selection group activator is subsequently indicated, the gaming device displays or highlights the plurality of remaining selections in the selection set. The probability that the player will pick a selection having a particular selection award (such as a high value award) accordingly increases after each picked selection in the selection set because there are less available selections for the player to pick from in the selection set. In this embodiment, the gaming device provides the player with one selection set having a predefined number of selections when a selection group activator symbol is indicated by the distributor.
In an alternative embodiment, the bonus game includes two or more separate activator symbols displayed by the distributor. In this embodiment, the symbols are associated with different selection sets and each set has a predefined number of selections. The awards associated with each selection set, preferably vary, such that the awards associated with selections in one selection set are on average, larger than the awards associated with selections in the other selection set.
In a further alternative embodiment, the gaming device provides the player with a plurality of selection sets having a predefined number of selections when a selection group activator symbol is indicated by the distributor. The gaming device randomly determines which selection set to provide to the player.
In yet another alternative embodiment, the distributor includes at least one terminator or terminator symbol. If a terminator symbol is indicated by the distributor, the bonus game ends.
As indicated above, in one embodiment, the player has a predetermined number of activations of the award distributor. Alternatively, the processor can randomly determine the number of spins. In a further alternative embodiment, the gaming device enables the player to obtain a number of additional spins at the beginning of the bonus game. The player picks from a plurality of masked choices to obtain the number of spins or additional spins associated with the player""s choice.
In another alternative embodiment, the award symbols and selection group activator symbols are associated with probabilities such that an award symbol or selection group activator symbol has a greater probability of being implemented in the game than another award symbol or selection group activator symbol.
Although the present invention is discussed relative to a bonus game of a gaming machine, it should be appreciated that the present invention could be employed as a primary game in a gaming device.
It is therefore an advantage of the present invention to provide a gaming device having an award distributor that has a plurality of award symbols and at least one selection group activator symbol, where a player obtains the award indicated after each spin of the award wheel and picks a selection award from a plurality of selections in a selection set if a selection group activator symbol is indicated.
It is another advantage of the present invention to increase the probability that a player will pick a particular bonus award from a plurality of selections by reducing the number of available selections from a selection set.
Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed disclosure, taken in conjunction with the accompanying sheets of drawings, wherein like numerals refer to like parts, elements, components, steps and processes.